Okay. There are obviously a lot of people out there talking about " The Muppets " this morning. In particular how ticket sales for this James Bobin film reportedly fell off by 62% during its second weekend in domestic release . But - to be fair here - given that the No. 1 film in the country...

Brent SD writes in to ask about JHM's 40 th -anniversary-of- Walt-Disney-World coverage. Or lack thereof. I can't help but notice that while many of the other Disney news sites have been doing article after article this week about Disney World's 40 th birthday, JimHillMedia has been posting...

It all starts one week from today. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved A solid two years of planning has gone into the 2011 edition of the D23 Expo . We're talking about months of meetings with the various divisions of The Walt Disney Company. Hundreds of hours spent putting together...

A portobello mushroom and spinach flatbread pizza garnished with pesto & artichokes? A Mediterranean-themed skewer piled high with tofu & vegetables? An expresso brownie? This is theme park food? It is according to Karlos Siqueiros , the manager of concept development for Food Operations at the...

It's a busy but happy time for the folks at S/R Laboratories Animation Art Conservation Center . And not just because their annual Spring auction gets underway today. Which means that - now through tomorrow afternoon PT- some rarer-than-rare cels, storyboard and concept sketches will be coming up...

Be it candy canes, Hanukkah gelt or those visions of sugar plums that are supposed to dance in your head this time of year, the holidays have always been closely associated with sweet stuff. Which is why I'd like to make JHM readers aware of a pretty sweet deal that's happening this Saturday...

When it comes to making changes at Disneyland , it's always been something of a delicate balancing act. The Walt Disney Company - because it wants this theme park to remain relevant - is always pushing for new stuff to be added to the place. So that Guests will then be compelled to return to "The...

First it was Walt who did all the talking for Mickey. Then it was Jimmy MacDonald who put words in the Mouse’s mouth. Then in the early 1980s, Wayne Allwine became Disney’s main mousekeeper. But then with Allwine’s untimely passing in May of last year, it was time for The Walt Disney Company to select...

The summer of 1970 wasn’t exactly a time when Walt Disney Studios was covering itself with cinematic glory. By that I mean, its big new release for the summer movie-going season was that utterly forgettable Don Ameche – Robert Morse Aquacomedy, “ The Boatniks .” Copyright 1970 Walt Disney Productions...

Do you hear that loud beep-beep-beep noise coming from Burbank? That’s The Walt Disney Company backing up. Rapidly retreating from its earlier attempts to make the Winnie the Pooh characters seem hip, fashionable and contemporary. “Coming off of ‘ My Friends Tigger and Pooh ,’ we did a lot of research...

MonkFan wrote in to say: I really enjoyed that “ TRON attraction that Disneyland almost got ” you wrote earlier this month. So I was wondering if you have any more stories about rides & attractions that almost got built at the Parks that you could share. Maybe something about my favorite part of...

Do you recall how – back in October of last year -- The Walt Disney Company announced that it planned to build a brand-new production facility out at Golden Oak Ranch in the Santa Clarita Valley? Well, based on a series of domain names that the Mouse registered late last month, it initially appeared...

D23 is still a few weeks out from its really-for-real birthday (Just for the record, The Walt Disney Company launched its Official Community for Disney Fans back on March 10, 2009). But given that D23 just revealed that it will be holding first anniversary parties at Disneyland and WDW’s Magic Kingdom...

Denny P. dropped me a line on Saturday to ask: Did you see Jason Garcia’s story in the Sentinel yesterday about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter ? As a Disney fan, this sounds like complete hype to me. But what do you think? Is this Islands of Adventure addition really going to be a game changer for...

First up, RedRyderBB writes in to say: Disneyland can’t be serious about bringing back “Captain EO.” I saw that 3D movie when it first opened in 1987 and once was really enough. “EO” was just a glorified music video. And even MTV doesn’t show music videos anymore. So what’s the point of bringing “Captain...

Have you looked at the calendar lately? No, I’m not talking about how there are just seven shopping days ‘til Christmas. I mean that – as of today – we’ve just two weeks left ‘til 2010 gets underway. Well, the folks who run The Walt Disney Company are clearly already making plans for next year. Over...

Nancy and I got the news yesterday afternoon as we were driving down to NYC. We’d stopped to gas up the car in Tolland, CT when Angela called on the cell to say that Roy E. Disney had died . This was obviously sad news. But -- to be honest -- not exactly unexpected. Ever since word leaked back in June...

You'd think – given that Brian Roberts was the guy behind Comcast ’s February 2004 bid to buy Disney for $66 billion – that today’s announcement (i.e. that the U.S. largest cable services company has just signed an agreement with General Electric . Which will then give Comcast control over NBC Universal...

Today is a day when most people here in the US traditionally take a moment or two to reflect on whatever it is that they have to be thankful for. And for the more-than-a-thousand Southern California students who’ve taken part in the Ryman Arts program over the past 19 years … Well, they’re just thankful...